If I had a category for "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?" this would be in it. The Sciblings are doing it, so I must.
 | I am:Gregory BenfordA master literary stylist who is also a working scientist. |
It's oddly apposite. Benford is one of my favourite SF writers, the only real practitioner of what I call SF these days. I grew up with Asimov, Clarke, and the oldies. My first novel read, at age 8, was Brave New World, followed by First and Last Men, and thereafter I was hooked. I read Amazing Stories, and waited breathlessly for that little known film director to complete his joint work with Arthur Clarke, based on a short story I had read when it was first published, called "The Sentinel". Basically I was screwed from the start. Benford strikes me as in that mold. I even liked his Foundation novel.
Stumble It!
Comments
John, if you really understood Brave New World at age 8, your precocity went well beyond the intellectual.
Posted by: Jim Harrison | January 27, 2007 11:56 PM
Delany. My beard is shorter than his but just as white, and I'm a tad older than he is. I read him a long time ago, though not recently.
Posted by: RBH | January 28, 2007 12:56 AM
Hal Clement.
But I agree with you about Benford. Timescape, for me, is one of the best attempts to grapple with the problems of time travel.
Don't forget Kornbluth and van Vogt, though.
Posted by: Ian H Spedding FCD | January 28, 2007 9:56 AM
I didn't say I understood BNW, just that I read it at 8. I reread it at 14, and it made a lot more sense.
Posted by: John Wilkins | January 28, 2007 11:23 AM
I like Benford, but he ain't no literary stylist. Bruce Sterling writes far prose in my opinion.
Posted by: John Farrell | January 28, 2007 12:42 PM
Minor correction: it's Last and First Men, John. Stephen Baxter wrote a novel recently in a similar vein, Evolution which wasn't bad.
I came up as Benford too in the quiz.
Posted by: Charlie B. | January 28, 2007 7:19 PM
Huh. All these years I had it the other way round. Must reread it sometime, if I can find a copy.
Sirius was the first novel I cried while reading...
Posted by: John Wilkins | January 29, 2007 2:15 AM
Not read Sirius. Cried at Flowers For Algernon though. Mind you, if you don't cry at that you're a cold, cold soul...
Both Last and First Men and the equally imaginative Star Maker are in print in the SF Masterworks series (vol 11 and 21 respectively). Your friendly neighbourhood Dymocks or Angus & Robertson ought to be able to help. In fact, here it is: Last and First Men at Dymocks
Posted by: Charlie B. | January 29, 2007 8:56 AM
Eeewww...
I'm Ayn Rand. Rather ironic, considering I stopped adhering to her philosophy in college.
Posted by: slavdude | January 29, 2007 1:44 PM
I'm Olaf Stapledon, apparently. Excellent...
FWIW, this post reminded me of the enjoyable time I spent reading Benford's 'Galactic Centre' novels as a teenager. I think I may track them down again and see if they're as good as I remember!
Posted by: Iorwerth Thomas | February 2, 2007 2:26 PM